Anthony Cody spent 24 years working in Oakland schools, 18 of them as a science teacher at a high needs middle school. He is National Board certified, and now leads workshops with teachers focused on Project Based Learning.

Private enterprise may have some lessons to teach educators about efficiency, but so far we seem to see profits building up with few apparent benefits to our students. It is unclear why this is so attractive to our legislators - unless they are somehow being influenced by these large campaign contributions. I would hate to think that!

What do you think? Do you think virtual schools are delivering a high quality education to their students? Are campaign contributions swaying policymakers to make unwise decisions?

Michael Barbour is an assistant professor at Wayne State University. He has a great deal of experience with K-12 Virtual education. His Virtual School Meanderings blog is highly active. In this article we see some of the claims and rough statistics being debated in the press about the effectiveness of For-Profit schools online schools. There's also a bit about Non-Profit online schools.

This is far from an in-depth research piece, but is a great way to get up on the issues. I appreciate Michael's voice on this issue. He shoots logic holes statements that need to be challenged.

​In 2008, investors wanted to buy Rio Salado College, the nation’s largest online public community college headquartered in Tempe, Ariz. The offer was more than $400 million with plans to convert it into a national, for-profit, online school.

Rio Salado wasn’t for sale, but the offer proved how much demand exists for serving students who find traditional education systems inconvenient and need the flexibility of online formats.

In some circles, online education has a bad reputation. Accusations that some for-profit companies prey on unsuspecting students to rake in federal financial aid have led to image problems for the sector. Critics see online education, offered in particular by for-profit colleges, as the dark underbelly of higher education, with the quality of Internet courses second to the greed of unscrupulous investors.

And now the critics are counting on accreditors to clean up the problems.

A U.S. Senate committee released an unflattering report on the for-profit college sector on Sunday, concluding a two-year investigation led by Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat. While the report is ambitious in scope, and scathingly critical on many points, it appears unlikely to lead to a substantial legislative crackdown on the industry -- at least not during this election year.

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges dealt a stinging blow to Bridgepoint Education Inc. on Monday by rejecting the for-profit’s accreditation bid for its Ashford University. The decision could mean regional accreditors will take a more assertive role in the debate over for-profit higher education.

Ashford fell short in several broad areas, according to the association, including its lack of a “sufficient core” of full-time faculty members, large numbers of students who drop out and questionable academic rigor in some areas.

Stanford University’s nearly $15,000-a-year Education Program for Gifted Youth will now bear the institution’s name, a move seen as a watershed in a growing field that is drawing scrutiny.

As the line between virtual and classroom-based learning continues to blur, some see Stanford’s move as a sign that so, too, will the line between secondary and higher education. Several other universities — though none with the pedigree of Stanford — already operate online high schools, a development that has raised some questions about expertise and motives.

Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado is the latest among a string of districts that have adopted marketing initiatives as ways to funnel more money into their systems.

When elementary schoolers take their report cards home to mom and dad this year, the bottom will sport a 2-inch ad for CollegeInvest, Colorado's nonprofit education savings plan.

The ads will bring Jeffco, Colorado's largest school district, $90,000 over three years as the district works to close a $70 million budget gap, Jeffco Schools Chief Financial Officer Lorie Gillis told CBS 4.

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